Ratchet & Clank: Revenge of the Machine
by Amnael 'Marks' Kaltos
Summary: It has been four long and peaceful years for Ratchet, Clank, Al and the other heroes since the DreadZone incident. But an old enemy from Ratchet's and Clank's past has returned with a vengeance and doesn't plan on stopping until he reaches his goal. Will he have what it takes to put end to this or will he need help from people in his memories? Rated T, may change. ON HIATUS…
1. Chapter 1: Prologue

Ratchet & Clank: The Revenge of the Machine

I do not under any circumstance own any of the Ratchet and Clank characters, locations, etc. The only thing I do own is the plot and the games.

Chapter 1: Prologue

Location: Hotel Room, Metropolis, Kerwan

Date: 3.20.2012

Time: 0000 hours

A lone, cloaked figure stands on the balcony of his hotel room, overlooking the city of Metropolis and watching the remaining groggy citizens return home to get some sleep before the coming dawn. No part of the humanoid figure could be seen except for his glowing red eyes that burned with hate for those of the city. After a few more minutes of watching his unsuspecting victims, the 'man' walks into the hotel room he and one other had rented for the night.

'_What is taking him so long?_' the man thought to himself as he sat down on one of the beds to imagine the chaos that would occur that day. The man thought about the number of years of research and testing spent on this plan and he compared it to all of the others he designed, '_I can't believe I am using what I absolutely despise as the basis of my idea, have I really sunk that low?_'

The man was snapped out of his thoughts when the door to the room opened and shut. "Have all of the packages been delivered?" the man asked without looking at the new comer.

"Of course they were, sir, I made sure of it. They will never know what hit them until it's too late." the robot responded. "There are ten crates of the experiments on each planet as we speak; you need only to say the word and it shall begin."

"Good, then it will begin at dawn!" the man replied. After hearing the response of 'Yes of course sir', the man went back to planning his next move. The only thought that briefly crossed his mind was, '_Let's see how you fair against my new army, Lombax..._'

Location: Mayor's Office, Metropolis, Kerwan

Date: 3.20.2012

Time: 0600 hours

A female Cazar walked to her office that morning thinking what every working person does with a sleep-clouded mind: 'Another day, another dollar.' Her name is none other Sasha Phyronix, current mayor of the city of Metropolis. '_I really wish that I just get a break from this job,_' she thought to herself as she sat down at her desk, yawning in the process. '_How long has it been since my last day of? Four years? Ten years? Not sure but it feels like it has been an eternity._'

Just as she sits down, she makes note of the peace and quiet the morning brought before the hassle of paperwork kicked into gear. However, Sasha could not shake the feeling that something big was going to go down today. The gut feeling never passed as it normally would, which was when she heard a nearby explosion. At first Sasha thought that it was just someone's engine blowing up. Not even fifteen seconds later, that idea was immediately trashed as citizens screamed in a chorus of mass panic and even more explosions occurred. She sighed and got up to see what the cause of the commotion was. As Sasha gazed out the office window, her look of frustration and confusion quickly changed to one of shock, horror, and fear. What she was witnessing was something that should be happening in an apocalypse movie, what she saw was complete and utter chaos. '_What is going on out there?_' she thought to herself.

Suddenly, here secretary barged in shouting that the city was under attack by something. The only thing that she knew she could do after hearing the fear in the woman's voice was that they needed help and fast. Sasha turned with a dark expression plastered on her face to the frightened woman and bluntly said, "I need to make a call."

TO BE CONTINUED…

A/N: I know that this is somewhat short but for the record, this is my first fanfic, so I hope you understand. I hope to continue so please rate and review. All comments are accepted (yes, even flames thanks to something called patience) so let me know what you think.


	2. Chapter 2: The Call for Help

Ratchet & Clank: The Revenge of the Machine

I do not under any circumstance own any of the Ratchet and Clank characters, locations, etc. The only thing I do own is the plot and the games.

Chapter 2: The Call for Help

Location: Control Room, Starship Phoenix

Date: 3.20.2012

Time: 0615 hours

Space, an endless domain that is a stargazer's dream come true, especially when it is from the bridge of the most impressive starships in the Galactic Army's fleet. However, this did not change the opinion of the Commander Ratchet of the Starship Phoenix, which was that it was boring as shit. Adding in the facts that he was one of the last remaining Lombax and he was the only biological being on the ship did not help either. In fact, the latter made him feel very out of place. '_Well, one in every crowd,_' Ratchet thought to himself, '_What I'd do for even an ounce of action right now._'

Immediately following that mental comment, a voice from the communications station snapped him to reality. "Sir, there's an incoming transmission; it's the Mayor of Metropolis!"

"Patch it through to the main screen," Ratchet ordered as he thought, '_Well this ought to be interesting._' After a quick salute and a 'Sir, yes sir,' the vid-screen came to life signaling that it was ready to use. Ratchet was never even able to give a proper greeting to Sasha before the words suddenly were caught in his throat; she had to duck off screen due to an exploding wall.

Location: Mayor's office, Metropolis, Kerwan

Date: 3.20.2012

Time: 0615 hours

"Was that an explosion?!" Ratchet's shout was heard over the vid-screen's speakers as Sasha stood back up and dusted herself off, "What the hell is going on?!"

"I wish I could answer that question myself," she replied, "All I know is that Metropolis is under attack by something." An unusual sound caught her attention and broke her chain of thought causing Sasha to pause and look for the source. In less than a second, she had located it and all she could do in blink in a what-the-fuck fashion at the two odd figures standing in the gaping hole in the office wall. They looked like a bio-machine fusion like Al after the DreadZone Incident except they were shaped like inflatable volleyballs with some obvious differences. The first figure was red, had mechanical wings on its back, and had what looked like a targeting reticle for its right eye; the second figure was blue, it also had a targeting reticle for an eye, and a single, red tip antenna on its head. "Scratch that I think I found out what the cause is," Sasha said in a rushed tone as the beings charged her.

'_And they thought I was paranoid when I decided to keep this at hand,_' she thought as she opened a lower drawer to pull out its only content: Sasha's old side arm. The sound of metal hitting metal was heard from the vid-screen, which Sasha assumed that the Crew on the bridge of the Phoenix hit the floor out of shock, hell even Ratchet was surprised (which he shouldn't). She quickly brought it to bear and fired several shots into each target effectively neutralizing the threats.

Location: Control Room, Starship Phoenix

Date: 3.20.2012

Time: 0615 hours

After overcoming his initial shock, he noticed that Sasha had walked off screen. After a few seconds, she returned with the two corpses. The Mayor held both beasts up to the vid-screen and asked, "Any idea what these things are?"

Ratchet did a once over for both of the dead, furry things. The red one was completely new to him, but he couldn't help but feel like he'd seen the blue one before but he wasn't sure where. It was then that Clank walked onto the bridge. After a brief glimpse at the blue creature, he asked the first thing on his mind, "Why are you holding a Protopet?" At this Ratchet froze before hanging his head and sighing, which got him several confused looks from the crew and Sasha.

When Ratchet looked back up, he said in the most neutral voice he could muster, "We'll be there momentarily. Ratchet, out. "

"But, I didn't ask you to-" was the only thing she could get out before Ratchet terminated the connection.

"Begin preparations for the trip to Kerwan." Ratchet ordered, which received a 'sir, yes sir' in response. Once the trip was underway, Ratchets only thought was, '_Note to self: when this is over, contact Fizzwidget and Angela and inform them of this problem. _'

TO BE CONTINUED…

A/N: I hope all of you enjoyed this installment of _Ratchet and Clank: The Revenge of the Machine_. Stay tuned for the next chapter.


	3. Chapter 3: A Dose of Déjà Vu

Ratchet & Clank: The Revenge of the Machine

I do not under any circumstance own any of the Ratchet and Clank characters, locations, etc. The only thing I do own is the plot and the games.

Chapter 3: A Dose of DéjàVu

Location: City Hall Roof, Metropolis, Kerwan

Date: 3.20.2012

Time: 0730 hours

A single cloaked figure watched with glee at the chaos caused as his plan unfolded. The man's mech-Protopets were as deadly as they were ingenious since he was able to give commands to them via a control panel he carried. Suddenly the faint roar of engines could be heard over the mayhem. The man smirked, as he knew who it was.

As he turned from his current viewpoint, he pressed a few buttons on his control panel before storing it in his cloak. The only thought on the figure's mind as he climbed into the cab his accomplice hijacked was _'The game, Lombax, has finally begun...'_ With a quick nod, the cab moved to a more reliable position for the next phase of his plan.

Location: Airspace above Metropolis, Kerwan

Date: 3.20.2012

Time: 0730 hours

Ratchet leaned up against the wall opposite of the back access ramp, clearly deep in thought. '_I hope that these guys are _truly _ready for this,_' Ratchet thought to himself. His mind traveled back to the pre-mission briefing on the Phoenix when they arrived in system.

[Flashback]

"Alright everyone listen up!" Ratchet shouted as the Rangers in attendance went quiet. "Here's the plan: there will be two teams, one will be with CR3 and the other will be with me. We will be skydiving in since the fighting is most concentrated on the streets. Once we touch down, all safeties off as we clear out the streets, but try not to harm any of the civilians. We will rendezvous at City Hall. Any questions?" After this was said, a single hand was raised.

The question that was asked made Ratchet smirk: "Ya, just one: when are we going to start?"

"As soon as we get to the drop ships," was his reply. "Dismissed."

[End Flashback]

He was jerked from his thoughts when the pilot's voice came on over the PA system. Unfortunately, for Ratchet it was located right above him so he heard the announcement loud and clear: 30 seconds 'til the drop-off point.

After choosing and checking his first weapon of choice in his quick select arsenal, his Mega Vulcan Cannon, he and Clank got ready to jump. Ratchet turned to his squad of Rangers as the back access ramp opened and simply said, "Alright everyone, remember the plan. Good luck and I'll see you on the ground." With that, he and his squad jumped from the drop ship. There was only one word to describe the decent: 'meh…'*

After the mind-numbing drop and landing, the only sound that dominated the city streets was silence. Not the kind like you would get from a TV's mute button, but the kind that would occur in a horror movie. "Something's not right here," Ratchet stated, "Everyone stay frosty." With that, they began their long trek through Metropolis' debris strewn streets.

"Sir, was this how it was like when you first fought the Protopet?" asked XR9, one of the members of Ratchets squad.

"No it wasn't. Actually, plenty of the residents survived the Protopet incident. This on the other hand is like the entire Metropolis population just vanished out of thin air." Ratchet replied solemnly, not noticing the cab that was tailing them.

Both teams eventually arrived at the rendezvous point, both of which had identical situations: silence and zero enemy activity. Since they had arrived well before the appointed extraction time, the Rangers minus CR3 stood guard at the entrance to City Hall, while Ratchet, Clank, and CR3 went to look for any survivors from the Mayor's Office.

After 30 minutes of fruitless searching, the trio decided to return to the rest of the Rangers and wait for extraction. However, as fate would have it, Ratchet suddenly trips over a loose floor panel. "Whoa!" Ratchet yelped moments before he literally does a face plant.

"Who's there?" a familiar voice asks the trio.

Clank was the first to speak after noticing that Ratchet had a mouthful of carpet. "It is us, Sasha." Clank said in his usual tone, "Are you alright." After he said this and Ratchet had spit out his chew toy we call a carpet, the loose panel popped out of place revealing a hidden room (AU: think of it like the hidden compartments on the Millennium Falcon in _Star Wars Episode 4_ only a little bigger). As soon as the entrance was open, Sasha walked out of the hidden room.

"Well as alright as I can be given the sudden shock of this attack blindsiding us." she responded.

Ratchet stood up and turned to Sasha in order to try to understand Metropolis' situation, but he saw the look of shock written on her face. Before he was able to ask though, chaos suddenly broke out at the main entrance. "XR9, what the hell is going on out there?" Ratchet demanded. He was soon answered when the sounds of gunfire began to quickly get louder and in almost no time, all of the Rangers that survived when the chaos broke out moments before were retreating down the hall where the trio and Sasha were located. He watched all of the Rangers rush past him in order to reach the stairwell to the roof. The only one to stop at Ratchet and the others was XR9.

"Sir, sorry for the sudden notice, but we were forced to retreat or be overwhelmed by the Protopet's. By the way we also learned who is behind this, Sarge, but right now we need to get to the roof." XR9 stated while jogging in place.

"Understood XR9, but why are we going to the roof?" Ratchet asked puzzled.

"We are headed up there so we can be safely extracted from Metropolis." Was the response, before the group darted up the stairs to the drop ships.

TO BE CONTINUED…

* meh = bland, uninteresting, neutral, bored.

A/N: Sorry for the late update once again, life decided to take a shit on me, figuratively speaking. Unfortunately, I have a major case of writers block, I have not played Ratchet & Clank in ages, and it does not help that my younger brother took the PS2 and all its games with him to college once Christmas Break was over. Therefore, until further notice, I will be taking a break from this story for the time being. Granted I am planning to utilize my creative mind in other ways, such as for other stories. I hope that I can bounce back from this slump and give this story the epic ending I had in mind. Anyway, I hope all of you enjoyed this chapter of _Ratchet and Clank: The Revenge of the Machine_. Keep an eye out for the next chapter, you never know when it will arrive (Slender Man is seen in the background).


End file.
